The Start of the Red Reaper
by CrimsonCrystalConstellation
Summary: What if Ruby wasn't as childish as she seemed? What if it was a facade to hide behind when around others? Every life has a story, every story has a start, and Ruby's starts as a legend.


**Authors Note**

 **This is my first story, Read and Review, constructive criticism is appreciated. No flames please, Byakuran ate all of my marshmallows.**

 **(Edit: Sept. 9, 2015) Minor Details regarding Powers have been changed.**

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 **The Start of the Red Reaper**

I'm more of a wraith than anything else, here one day gone the next. I never stay too long in one place for fear of being discovered. I should probably start at the beginning… I was born on a small island named Patch. Growing up wasn't hard – it was merely _uncomfortable_. Sure I was around other kids, but I never seemed to fit in. Adults would look at my eyes and say I was "special" or I had an "old soul". If I'm honest… they were right.

On my tenth birthday I discovered I could sense creatures called Grimm. By the time I was thirteen no one would come near me for fear of a Grimm appearing. Yeah that's right, I could call the Grimm to my side like one would a loyal dog. My "specialness" vanished the first time I controlled a Beowolf by accident; fear was the most common reaction, anger was a close second though.

I quickly learned to survive away from people after that, running into the forest on the far side of the island after they tried to burn me at the stake for not only being friendly to the Grimm, but taming them by mere thought. While in the forest I honed my skill and developed new ones. I became stronger, I adapted. I couldn't always control the Grimm around me so I built myself a weapon… I built a beautiful scythe dubbed "Crescent".

Time passed and the Grimm on the mainland began to discover ways of getting on to the island. The people of the island had nothing to defend themselves with so I stepped in slaying the creatures as they appeared. Over time the villagers became curious as to what I did so they began seeking me out in the woods, slowly losing their fear of me controlling a Grimm when they got to see how I lived.

Since leaving the village I had built a small, but fortified one room hut. It had a low to the ground table along with cooking and eating utensils and dishes that I carved from the nearby trees, along with a bed made of the furs from the animals I hunted. Beside the hut was a little fruit and veggie garden. Besides hunting and training my life was rather boring.

After about a year of attacks from the Grimm, Hunters and Huntresses came to Patch in search of help for the war against the Grimm. I agreed to help them on the condition that they teach the men and women of the growing village to fight the Grimm that dared venture onto the island. They hesitantly agreed.

I should have seen what was coming. I should have stayed on the island.

The Hunters didn't keep up their end of the deal. After the war was won I returned home to Patch… only to discover pure carnage where the bustling village used to be. There was no evidence that they even fought whatever attacked them. Upon returning to the Capital City, newly named Vale, I walked into the Center tower and entered the main meeting room to find a council in session around the war table. Those in the room turned to me with serious looks, making me nervous.

During the war, I was able to hide that I had the ability to manipulate Grimm. However there were people who found out regardless of my hiding it. These people had come before the council and, believing me to be a danger, demanded I be locked up and have my semblance stripped from me.

The council agreed to these demands and I was stripped of my power... Or at least... That's what those who wanted me locked up were told...

In truth they were to curious about my controlling semblance to just lock me up and throw away the key. Rather they sent me to the scientists they had in Vale. Suffice to say it wasn't a happy time... Torture... experiments... testing endurance, pain tolerance, physical, mental, and emotional strength. Along with testing how much power I could create, how long I could contain power without burning up, how many Grimm I could control under extreme stress, and if I could feel the damage inflicted on the Grimm. Eventually my strength began to run out.

I wanted nothing more than for the torture to end. However, the fates are not kind beings. After months in the scientists 'tender loving care' they decided to try to achieve immortality... Original I know... But my genetics allowed for longevity in life, provided we live that long. So they began even more experiments, some more painful than others. Over time my DNA became altered, twisted from its original form. While I was aging, it was hundreds of times slower than a normal human.

Deep down I knew that something was wrong with me. Not just physically wrong, but a soul threaded pain that echoed in my mind, sending flashes of places – things I don't understand. Voices, names, faces, cities, statues, and a plaque with names blurred out, but one word stands out " ** _Beacon_** ". Whether it is pointing toward my salvation or someone else's; I truly pray that the answer comes soon… I don't know how much longer I have.

It's like I could hear nothing but white noise – a ringing that would never end.

They went too far this time. No air would enter my lungs, ice seemed to be clawing through my body; I could hear the scientists yelling something, but it was so faded… so distant. They had made a mistake, the last experiment was too much for my body to handle, blood loss mixed with electrical shocks is enough to kill anyone, they learned that the hard way as I flat lined. It all came to an end right then and there – or at least that's what I thought.

I thought I was **_finally free_** , but no, the cycle continued in the most twisted way possible. Oh I could still die, but now my soul was to be reborn into a different body with the new generation that passed, doomed to remember all the lives before me – from birth to death and back again. Even now I walk as a child in the world I once defended, and will continue to defend till the end of time, legends of the "Protector in Red" are now told as a bedtime story for children. I heard it once, they say the Protector died heroically in battle after saving the city Vale. Anger darker then the red I was named after blurred my vision, I refused to listen to the story again. How ** _dare_** they lie about what happened… but perhaps it's better this way, after all they would probably start searching for me if they knew I had indeed become immortal on some level.

So yes, the greed of humanity has been calmed for a time, but now it is rising once more and with a vengeance untold; and once more I must rise to meet it head on and unafraid. But until that day, I'll have some fun and for once act my physical age rather than my mental age… I just hope I don't overdo it…

Once upon a time my name was Crimson Reaper, but others now know me by a different name: Ruby Rose.

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 **I might continue this from cannon with Ruby, or explore Crimson Reaper a bit more in depth. Not sure yet though... Please leave a comment with your opinion on which I should do. Again no flames please.**

 **Thanks for Reading! ~C3**


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